Plato c 427 c 347 b c What

Plato c. 427 -c. 347 b. c.

What will we be talking about? • Themes, Arguments & Ideas • • • Dialogue and Dialetic Combating the Relativism of the Sophists Theory of Forms Theory of the Tripartite Soul The Importance of Education • Major Works • • • Apology Meno Phaedo Symposium Republic

Who Was Plato? • • Born around 427 bc Athens, Greece Rich & prominent family Fascinated by this poor, ugly guy who used to make the rich, powerful and brilliant members of Athens look like morons • Socrates • Becomes Socrates’s star student

The Peloponnesian War • Between Athens and Sparta • Total defeat of Athens, 404 bc • Spartan dictatorship of 30 tyrants • Some were Plato’s relatives and Socrates’s students • Corrupt & soon removed from power • Democracy restored • New gov’t tried Socrates for “corrupting the youth” and put him to death

Effects on Plato • • • Failure of the war Failure of his relative to govern properly Failure of Athenian democracy Persecution of mentor, Socrates Plato turns his back on public office and becomes a philosopher • Studied Pythagorean philosophy in Syracuse, Sicily • Founded The Academy • Foundation for the Western university system • Aristotle becomes his student

The Times, They Are a-Changin’ • Transitional period for Greek society • Increased literacy • Recording of history & philosophy • Allowed for critical thinking • Religion seemed less important • Traditional values fell into doubt • Philosophers look for rational explanation of the world and our place in it.

Themes, Arguments, Ideas • • • Dialogue & Dialetic Relativism of the Sophists Theory of Forms Theory of the Tripartite Soul The Importance of Education

Dialogue • The nature of philosophy is constant questioning • Dialogues • Socrates worried that written texts would cause people to stop thinking • Plato wrote carefully • Think for ourselves, not just absorb his ideas as our own • Cast doubts • Provided counter-arguments

Dialetic • Logical argument in the Republic • Socrates cross-examines and refutes his interlocutors (those who take part in a dialogue) • APORIA - State of perplexity • Recognize own errors • Make positive discoveries • In the Phaedrus • more systematic • Division and generalization • Analyze concepts • Understand the relationships between them

Combating the Relativism of the Sophists • Sophists – wandering teachers who charged their students to teach them about rhetoric & debate • Relativism – ethical truths depend on the individuals and groups holding them (how does this affect the Holocaust? ) • Might makes right • Transitional world of Athenian society • Old values fell away and left a void • Moral relativism • Theory of Forms and Republic • Plato’s attempt to find solid ground for moral values and rational principles

Socrates • philosophical goal • to seek the truth through the interrogation of people alleged to be wise. • practical goal • to teach that the each person should attain the best possible state of the soul • being as virtuous as possible. • “our actions always aim at the best” • fail to attain it only because we are ignorant of what the best is. • commitment to virtue • he accepted an unjust sentence of death rather than escaping into exile.

An Injustice • accused of crimes against the city of Athens, convicted by a jury • sentenced to death. • regarded his conviction as wrongful, • proved that the charges against him were unfounded. • only reason for his conviction • refusal to beg for the jury’s mercy • would have brought shame on himself • jury that brought shame on itself by treating him unjustly

The Jury • reap the consequences of its actions: • Socrates’s followers would be emboldened to act against members of the jury, • The jury members would lose out on the opportunity to improve themselves with the help of Socrates. • example of the famous Socratic irony

Death • faced death resolutely • the virtuous person cannot be harmed. • dilemma which shows the harmlessness of death. • Death is either: • A dreamless sleep, or • A passage to another life. • A dreamless sleep is desirable, not harmful. • The virtuous person who passes on to another life would find justice there and would associate with other virtuous souls.

The Social Dimension of Virtue • Excellence of the soul seems to be an entirely personal matter. • opinions of others are irrelevant to whether one is acting from virtue or not. • The virtuous person cannot be harmed by the actions of others, no matter what their opinion of him. • The only harm another can do is to lead one away from virtue. • In looking to others for guidance in action, one should look to those who have knowledge of virtue. • By analogy, an athlete should look for guidance from a trainer or a physician • What should guide our actions • not how non-virtuous people think we should behave • Consider whether the actions themselves are right or wrong, just or unjust.

Unjust Action • Suppose someone, or some group of people, has behaved unjustly toward a person. • (Socrates’s conviction and death-sentence) • The injustice of the act does not justify an unjust act in return. • Socrates should not avoid death by escape and exile if such behavior would be unjust. • no consequences of an unjust action, however favorable, make it acceptable to perform it. • is avoiding the death penalty by escape unjust?

Bad Consequences • Socrates argues in the specific case of his escape that the consequences would not in fact be favorable. • His friends will be put into danger by helping him escape, • He will be received as an enemy of the law, • If he finds a lawless state that would accept him, his life would not be worth living there • His conviction would be vindicated • his escape would prove that he was not teaching virtue • He would be disgraced by acting in a cowardly way.

On the other hand… • no real harm will be done if he does not escape • As a virtuous person, he cannot be harmed, • No harm would come to his family members • friends would look after them

Justice and Agreement • consequences of his escape should not be the basis of his decision. • The question is whether to escape is to act unjustly. • to escape would be to violate a just agreement, which is always unjust. • The agreement in his case is to follow the laws of the city • even if the laws are executed in an unjust way, they must still be followed.

The Social Contract • Socrates did not make an explicit agreement with the city of Athens to obey its laws. • His agreement was a tacit one, which is now called a “social contract. ” • He stayed in the city, • he could have left at any time with all his property. • received benefits from his tacit agreement with the city, e. g. , his education. • It was also in his power to argue for better laws, so the laws of the city are not oppressive in any way.

Socratic Ethics • Socrates maintained several theses in ethical and political philosophy: • People ought to act only from virtue, • It is never right to respond to injustice with further injustice, • A virtuous person can be harmed only by a loss of virtue, • People have obligations to obey the laws of a state with which they have voluntarily associated themselves.

Unanswered Questions • Apology and Crito leave a number of central questions unanswered, including • What makes a person virtuous? • What makes an act just or unjust? • How should society be organized in a virtuous or excellent way? • Plato began to supply answers to these questions.